Scene Entry Points and What Does Your Character Want?

The biggest thing I’d like to comment on as far as what we need to do to take the next step is to really focus on developing your scenes so that something happens that you can build on.  Make sure we (the audience) know the relationship (not just wife/husband, but what kind of a relationship – do you love each other, did you marry for money, etc.), the location, and the conflict as soon as possible so you can really dive into it.  The longer you take to get there, the less likely you’ll get there.  You’ll have time, once you've established the scene, to fill in all the little details.

Here’s an example of quickly getting into a scene, word of inspiration:  love

Player A:  (sad tone, shoulders shrugged) Mom, Dad told me you two are getting a divorce and that it’s my fault.

Player B: (angry tone) It is your fault, you’re 37, you still live at home, you don’t have a job, and you and dad are having an affair.

Player A:  (still sad, but reaching out to Player B) I don’t have a job because you know dad, he’s such a traditionalist, and, yes, we are having an affair because I saw how wonderful he treated you over the years and, like you, I don’t want anyone else to have him, but me.  But, I need you to know that you’ll always be Mom to me, not the hated ex-wife.

Now, that is a bit ridiculous, but it shows just how quickly you can get into a scene and note that emotions help to establish relationships/intent.  Now, let’s try it with a different suggested word from the audience, you got it:  bananas!

Player A:  (happily) Uncle Jed, I’d really like it if you would help me free the animals from the zoo.

Player B: (excitedly) Timmy, I've been hoping you’d ask me to run your army of freedom fighters!

Player A:  (happy/in awe) Well, you’re an inspiration to me because ever since you told me about how you valiantly freed Aunt Mary from her previous husband, I figured I should take up the torch.

Player B:  (happy/proud) You always were an impressionable young lad.  Mary’s husband was such a nice and handsome guy, it just didn't seem fair that she should be caged by him forever.

See how quickly we left the bananas behind (and, didn't even mention them)?  The audience suggested words of inspiration as well as the word association games are just launching pads – the scene didn't have to be about bananas, it just had to start somewhere around bananas.  In the above example – the zoo.  If the word was balloons, you could start a scene at a birthday party or at a circus or amusement park or the scene could start with someone blowing up a balloon and talking to their sister about their father’s retirement and party, etc., but you don’t have to mention balloon – at all.  You have to trust that the audience will make the connection and move on.  The reason this is important is you don’t want to get stuck on the word.  The word, ultimately, is the least important aspect of the game/scene, but if you spend the first 45 seconds talking about bananas, it becomes the focal point instead of the story, the relationship, the characters.

Remember, scenes are not monologues about how you feel about the topic.  Scenes are about characters interacting, developing conflict, creating history, and going somewhere.  Scenes are about how your characters feel about each other.  Each character in every scene should want something and the audience should know that.  It could be an actual thing they want (all the gold in Texas) or a person (his brother’s wife) or an idea (the respect of his fellow congressmen) or something else that the character reveals.  And, each character should try to get what they want – this creates conflict and possible resolutions.  

If your character doesn't want anything in a scene or doesn't try to get anything, your character is just floating along.  Drama demands tension of some kind – so want something and try to get it and see how your fellow characters onstage respond.  Then, resolve it.

A simple way to look at it is like this:

Player A wants Player B’s approval.

Player B wants to rule the universe.

In order for Player A to get what he/she wants (Player B’s approval), a good way to start would be to support all of Player B’s ideas to rule the universe (no matter how zany they are).  Even better – not only support the ideas, but up them a notch or two to beef up Player B’s ego.

In order for Player B to get what he/she wants (to rule the universe), he/she will obviously need supporters, so recruiting and agreeing and accepting Player A’s ideas is a good way to start.

Building the list of what you should be asking yourself:

If this is true, what else is also true?

What do I (my character) want? And how am I going to get it?

If This Is True... On Stage Focus Points

I've got a key concept I want to review that will really help us work these scenes.  It involves being 'self aware' on stage of who your character is (the attributes you and others give that character) and then expanding upon those attributes.

Some of the things I will be referencing will be from yesterday's rehearsal.  I'm doing this because they are fresh on our minds and, yes, I know that it is easy to make suggestions now, after the fact, but this isn't about "you should have done this", this is about what we can do in the future.  I think we had a really good rehearsal yesterday and can use this information to build on.

Always be asking yourself:  If This Is True, What Else Is Also True?

Each time you communicate verbally/physically on stage is an opportunity for the scene to develop.  It is up to you and your fellow actors to decide what to focus on.  

Example:  A man and a woman are floating in the sky by hanging onto balloons. Once the relationship is established (wife/husband) and your location (the sky, above anywhere) is established, the conflict is already there for you:  Someone bit off more than they could chew (by grabbing so many helium balloons).  Now, where do you go from there?

If you stay focused on the physical plight, the scene will become very plot based, but it's an A to B to C story.  A to B to C storytelling is when you relate a story that is based on actions (I went to the store, got some butter, came home and ate dinner).  When you rely on A to B to C plot based storytelling, you have to be really clever (continually) to make it work for the audience, otherwise, it's a  plot with no substance. 

However, if you use the idea of "If this is true, what else is true?" you could easily make this scene about one player's obsession with overreaching (and create the history of that right then) and/or you could also make the other player's need to hang onto their partner (they didn't have to hang onto the balloons and go for the ride) as being a very clingy person (and create the history right then).  

By doing this, you open up this scene to so many different possibilities (especially in Beats 2 & 3 of the Harold) without it relying on clever plot building.  You are simply listening to what is being offered and building on that.  

If player A says, "You grabbed too many balloons and that's why we're flying away" Player A can continue and say, "Just like you always do (insert history)" and/or Player B can 'Yes, and' to grabbing too many balloons and add, "Yes, just like when I blindly grabbed you at that rave party in Ocala 15 years ago and dared you to marry me on the spot, and you did" (or any other possible "if this is true, what else is also true?" thingy).

If this is true, what else is also true really works in the Harold because conflict and/or character flaws create the opportunity for something to be exposed and used in various ways, thus, creating a 'game'.  

Deborah used "If this is true, what else is true?" to create her 'game' by switching her lying about being blind, to lying about not speaking English.  In other words, "If my character lied about having poor eyesight, what else may be true about my character?"  This allowed her character to have a pattern or a 'game' that the audience recognizes.

Goon River is probably the best place to use the "If this is true, what else is also true?" motto.  And there were several opportunities for the player to use it on themselves as well as using it on other characters.

There's an old lady who needs help with her groceries and house chores and she forgot where she put a huge amount of money.  If this is true, what else can be true can be asked by the player acting as the old forgetful lady and the players playing the game with her.  In other words, in Goon River, you get to control yourself AND other people and the best way to do that is to use their offerings.  

If Vi's character needs help with her groceries and house, what else does she need help with?  If she forgets where she puts her money, what else does she forget?  That's what makes Goon River fun, you build a character so others can use them and, along the way, you use the other characters.

If Deborah's character was desperate enough to be a statue to get her family's attention, what else would be true about her?  (When she was 10 did she open up a chain of lemonade stands in the neighborhood that she incorrectly used salt instead of sugar in the mix? Did she send out an email to everyone claiming that she was a Princess from Nigeria and needs you to cash a check for her?)

If Charles' character was retiring form being the ferryman in hell, oh my god, what else could be true about him?  (What would he whittle while he sat on the porch in his rocking chair?)

You've got to explore other people's characters because there's a world inside each one.  You must explore your own character, but don't be afraid to explore other characters.  You can create each other's futures, pasts, and present just as you can your own.

If Paul's character was the pretty girl in Goon River and just returned from LA after failing to make it as an actress, what else is true about her (and Goon River, for that matter)? (Could you remember how she butchered your favorite Shakespeare play and emptied out the theater?  Or have you secretly wished she would be the Captain of the next Enterprise on Star Trek because her acting is so under appreciated?).

If Taryn's character was so desperate that she went fishing for men on main street, what else is true about her?  (Did she up her game to using a bow and arrow at the mall?  Or did she catch you by mistake and throw you back?)

The great thing is we are creating unique characters with back stories, now we just have to use each other's characters by expanding on the information already shared.  

Always be asking, if this is true, what else is also true?